All I Need Now Is a Pair of Leather Chaps

Max Maxfield cannot stop himself from adding to his collection of items from Saddleback Leather.

I simply cannot help myself. I love real leather products for their look and their staying power. I can't think of anything else (apart from myself) that looks better the older it gets and the more it's battered around.

Of course, not all leather is the same. You can purchase a leather belt from a discount store that feels weak and wishy washy from the get-go. In such a case, you're not too surprised when the buckle holes begin to stretch and the stitching starts to fray.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have stuff like the products from Saddleback Leather. What other company do you know that boasts a hundred-year warranty? As Dave Munson, the owner of Saddleback Leather, says on its website: "If, for any reason, your piece doesn't live up to what we said it would, then contact us or have one of your descendants get ahold of one of my descendants and we'll take care of you."

I started my journey of discovery with Saddleback a few years ago, when I purchased an iPad case. I still get comments on this everywhere I go. Also, unlike my wife's and son's iPads ("protected" by regular cases), mine is still in pristine condition.

Another early purchase was my tow belt. I honestly believe that I will never need to purchase another belt as long as I live. These are so good that I bought one for my brother, one for my father-in-law, and one for my best friend as Christmas presents the year before last. To the best of my knowledge, these people haven't worn any other belt since that time.

I also have a little sleeve wallet, which holds my business cards. Of course, the pride of my collection is my messenger bag, which I take everywhere. This is perfect for slipping under the seat in front of you on an aircraft. Like the other products, it will last me the rest of my life. My inventor friend, Brian LaGrave, drools over this bag every time he visits me in my office.

A few weeks ago, my old wallet shrugged off this mortal coil, so I invested in a long trifold wallet. What can I say? I love it. Even though it's not small, it fits comfortably in the pocket in my cargo shorts. I've not tried it in the pocket of my jeans, but if it doesn't fit, I'll just have to wear cargo shorts all year round.

Every now and again, however, one does need to travel a little lighter. Thus, I'm currently doing my happy dance, because I just took delivery of a rather tasty little belt pouch.

This little beauty is ideal for those times when you need to store only a few small items, like some keys and a couple of credit cards. I'm currently wearing it in with a small notepad and pencil, a miniature tape measure, and a couple of screwdrivers (the essentials a young boy simply cannot be without).

All I'll need then is a pair of leather chaps to complete my collection. (I wonder if Saddleback makes custom items.) How about you? Is there any article of luggage or any accessories like wallets or belt pouches that you simply cannot do without?

I may have mentioned a program on CBC (Canada's version of the BBC) called "Under The Influence" which is all about marketing. It is available as podcasts and streaming audio and also in text. Coincidnetally I was listening to the podcast this morning on this very topic called "Satisfaction Guaranteed". I hope that you can listen to it from outside of Canada, but if not I hope you can read it.

@antedeluvian: "I found that a fanny pack was very conveneient until I got pickpocketed on the subway in Barcelona."

Aubrey, I'm afraid that AFAIK this is a huge problem in Barcelona's subway, but also in some touristic streets such as "La Rambla".

I've only visited Barcelona for work -- too bad, because I'm Spanish ;-) --, and I really enjoyed the free evening I spent in the city. I visited the Maremagnum and some of the beautiful Antonio Gaudi's buildings, but I recognize I was continously looking after my stuff because I got prevented about this issue by my friends.

David, unfortunately my employer has BANNED Chrome completely. Our "official" browser is IE (an old version at that), but we CAN use Firefox as long as we don't try to get any support from our IT department for it! The IT department actually controls our default program settings! Thus, if I click on a link in the daily e-mails from EET or in the "someone has replied..." e-mail, it opens an IE session. For all you Dilbert fans, I think the name of our CIO is Mordac....

@Antedeluvian... "I have just switched to a back with wheels". I researched a bit after I posted and Karrimor has been boiught out and moved to UK. Doesn't say where they actualy manufacture but I'd put money that it's in the east :-) But they still do something similar to what I had. But (age related concerns becoming greater) wheels sound like a good idea.

> "the restriced space in cattle class aggrievates my back." Don'tcha hate that? But on a recent South African Airways trip from Perth to Johannesburg they could not get the aisle wheelchair and my wife through the smaller space between the business class seats. After some trying the SAA lady said "Well you'll just have to stay here!" SAA business class seats are better than some first class seats I have been in. The control panel for the seat had 14 buttons and it reclined into a full bed. That is not likely to happen again but I tell you what, if I'm ever in the position to afford business class again I'll do it. It's about 2.5 times the cheap economy fare I usually try and get. And probably worth it....

@mhrackin....I have not had exactly that problem but get similarly mystifying things happening. It sometimes helps to restart your browser, and / or to delete the cache. In Internet explorer this is in Tools / Internet Options / general / delete browsing history. But if you're using IE, get something else...I use Google Chrome whihc is rock solid and works well with EET. The EET programmers don't like IE I think, pages frequently don't display properly in IE.